Royal Oak has one of the busiest downtowns in the region but has fewer parking meters and decks that accept credit card payments than nearby smaller cities such as Ferndale and Birmingham.

Elected officials this week called for the city to increase credit card options for motorists who park in the downtown, especially at city-owned parking decks which only accept cash.

“We get a call at least once a week from people surprised that city parking decks don’t take credit cards,” Shelly Kemp, executive director of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce told city commissioners this week.

City Commissioner Jeremy Mahrle along with Commissioner Michael Fournier called for Royal Oak to increase credit card payment options and signs to guide motorists to available parking.

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Mahrle said he found it disgraceful that parking garage users had no way to pay fees by credit card.

“If you look at other cities they have other ways of paying,” he said. “Other cities have things like phone apps where you push a couple of buttons and your parking is paid for.”

If the city wants to get paid for parking it only makes sense to make it convenient for people to pay for parking, Fournier said.

Royal Oak has three city-owned parking decks in the downtown and about 2,000 parking meters in the city. About 400 meters take credit cards, but the rest are the older coin-operated meters.

Royal Oak began installing credit card meters several years ago as a test, said Greg Rassel, head of the Department of Public Services.

Those meters are located between Williams and Lafayette from Sixth Street to 11 Mile Road. Rassel’s department is now installing credit card meters in the parking lot in front of City Hall and on Williams street, he said.

But credit card parking meters come with a higher monthly cost because the city has to pay $5.75 a month per meter for credit card functions and 13 cents per transaction, Rassel said.

“It only makes financial sense to set up credit card meters at meters where there is enough usage to justify that cost,” he said.

More and more people expect to be able to use credit cards for parking, said Mayor Jim Ellison.

“Credit card meters are popular and we have to look at expanding that again,” he said.

The city also needs to increase awareness about available parking, Ellison said, with signs and “wayfinding” efforts. The city’s three parking decks -- two on Lafayette and one on Center Street -- offer two hours of free parking between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Royal Oak needs to let people know it has good deals on parking at the decks, Ellison said. Prime street parking spots on Washington and Main streets in the downtown are used by people who work in the area.

“I’d like to see a way to get merchants away from those meters,” he said.

The parking systems in the downtown is handled by the city’s Downtown Development Authority with some oversight from the city.

Jay Dunstan, chairman of the DDA board, is ready to have the organization look into several parking issues, including parking rates, technology, parking deck maintenance, hours of enforcement and how intense that enforcement should be.